"These New Yorkers have proved their rehabilitation, in some cases for decades, but have been unable to gain legal status or fully re-enter society due to the stigma of conviction," Cuomo said in a statement announcing his actions. "While the federal government continues to target immigrants and threatens to tear families apart with deportation, these actions take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York."

The pardons "reward their rehabilitative efforts and ... remove the barriers that their criminal records present to their immigration status," Cuomo said.

Cuomo's office said his pardons were awarded to immigrants who have "given back to their communities and families in a variety of ways, and ... demonstrated a substantial period of crime-free, good citizenship."

The number of immigrants who received pardons this year from Cuomo was unprecedented, and comes amid tighter federal scrutiny of immigration violations by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Cuomo's office highlighted three cases:

Lorena Borjas, 57, a transgender woman from Mexico, was convicted of criminal facilitation in 1994 after being "entrapped" as a human-trafficking victim. Borjas is a transgender advocate and has helped run HIV testing programs for transgender workers. Borjas hopes to obtain citizenship and avoid deportation to continue her advocacy work, the governor's office said.

Alexander Shilov, 35, from Estonia, was convicted of petit larceny in a string of minor crimes from 2000 to 2004 that officials said were attributed to drug addiction. "For the past 13 years, Mr. Shilov has remained sober, and has worked his way from obtaining his GED to becoming a distinguished nurse at a Brooklyn long-term managed care provider."

Freddy Perez, 53, from the Dominican Republic, was convicted of drug dealing in 1993. "Since then, he was worked as an electrician and has taken care of his autistic younger brother," the governor's office said.

All of the immigrants granted pardons have lived "crime-free" for 10 years or more, according to Cuomo's announcement.

Nick Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, commended Cuomo "for using his constitutional power of clemency to act on behalf of our deserving neighbors. Too many immigrants with prior criminal convictions are subjected to the gratuitous punishment of deportation, despite being longstanding contributing members of our community."

The governor also granted two pardons for purposes other than immigration-related relief.

Christopher Cavallo, 66, was convicted of drug sales in 1977 and has been crime-free since then. He owns a licensed security agency in Florida, and is active in charitable endeavors, including running a 12-step addiction recovery program for seven years in a women's prison in Florida, and supporting a shelter for children with HIV and cancer in Bogota, Colombia, where his security firm has an office, Cuomo's office said. Cavallo sought the pardon to be able to run for public office in Florida and to get an advanced security license.

Mary Snook Downing, 58, was convicted of possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1987. She began using drugs after the unexpected deaths of her husband and son in 1985. She entered rehab after her conviction and has remained crime-free since then, the governor's office said. Downing applied for a pardon to petition for legal guardianship of her 88-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia.

Cuomo also issued conditional pardons to 39 people convicted of crimes at age 16 or 17, including misdemeanors and non-violent offenses.

"These pardons will remove barriers to employment and community-involvement opportunities," Cuomo's office said. The pardons increased the number of youth pardons issued by Cuomo since last year to 140. But the governor's office said the number of applicants fell due to the "Raise the Age" legislation that took effect this year and allowed many people convicted of crimes as teenagers to petition for the sealing of their past convictions.

Cuomo also commuted the sentences of two state prison inmates who have demonstrated "a substantial evidence of rehabilitation and dedicated their efforts to the work of violence interruption," his office said:

Michael Flournoy, 42, who served 21 years of a 25- to 50-year sentence for attempted murder, "has a strong record of rehabilitation and volunteer service, and, since his incarceration, has cultivated a deep friendship with the victim and her son who now consider him a member of their family," Cuomo's office said. Flournoy is a state certified AIDS/HIV counselor and has volunteered hundreds of hours counseling prisoners. He earned associate's and bachelor's degrees from Bard College, where he was the commencement speaker in 2009, and has a masters of arts from New York Theological Seminary.

Dominic Dupont, 39, served more than 20 years of a 25-years-to-life sentence for murder and weapons possession. The slaying took place during a fight in which Cuomo's office said two groups of young men fought as Dupont, then 19, defended his twin brother. Dupont has been "remorseful" and served for the past nine years as the director of the Youth Assistance Program, a volunteer group that works with at-risk young people.

"Dominic Dupont has not only met but exceeded the requirements for consideration for Executive Clemency," said Thomas Griffin, superintendent of Green Haven Correctional Facility. "In the time I have known him he has displayed personal growth and through his actions demonstrates positive leadership qualities and behavior for other inmates."

Brendan J. Lyons joined the Times Union in 1998 as a crime reporter before being assigned to the investigations team. He became editor of the investigations team in 2013 and joined the Capitol Bureau in 2017.